Delilah
by InnocentTraitor22
Summary: (Based on the 2009 movie) They had hit something, a child, they had run over a little boy in the road. Now they are being hunted by children whose intentions might not be as clear as they seem
1. Chapter 1

"Jesus Christ Burt!" Delilah gripped the cushion of the car seat as the tail end of the vehicle popped up violently for the fifth time, "What are you trying to do? Hit every pothole in Nebraska?!" Burt looked at his younger sister who lounged across the entirety of the back seat, lacking any form of restraint to hold her down. "Well maybe if you put on your seat belt you wouldn't go flying every time we hit one." He retorted as his wife, Vicky, fiddled with the radio.

"Well maybe if you learned to drive..." The teen picked up her book which had flown from her grip with she was tossed up and Burt frowned deeply. Gripping the steering wheel and eyeing the empty road to make sure no one was coming, Burt violently turned the steering wheel back and forth making the car jerk and swerve left and right aggressively, also sending everything not tied down, ie. Delilah, out of place and then the man slammed on the breaks, sending her flying forward and on to the car floor.

" _God damn you Burt!"_ Delilah pulled herself off the floor and Burt had his head on the steering wheel laughing while Vicky was gripping the dash board. "Sorry, I guess I have to get the alignment checked." He said between howls and wiped his eyes before hitting the road again. "Would you two knock it off?" Vicky snapped and opened the road map again, "Yes Mother" Delilah grumbled and Vicky growled a little.

Burt began to fiddle with the radio, picking up nothing but static. "Hail Mary full of grace, Help me win this stock car race." He muttered and tuned in the dial once more, finally hitting a working music station. "Alright, boogie!" Delilah grinned and rolled down her window in the back and stuck her arm out of it, feeling the wind roll around her round forearm. The wind whip her lank, yellow blonde hair around her head wildly, occasionally veiling her grey green eyes until she brushed it out of her face.

"Turn it down!" Vicky snapped, "Do you want my ear drums to break?" Delilah rolled her eyes, the two had been fighting for the past three hours and frankly she was about ready to hop out and hitch hike her way to California. "You play it like that just to get under my skin." Vicky accused him.

"Your paranoia is showing again Vicky" Burt brushed is off, "Sometimes I wonder how I ended up married to you." Vicky shook her head and Burt chuckled, "by saying two little words" Vicky glared at him, "Shut. Up"

Delilah decided to break the tension quickly, "So, where are we anyway?"

"Nebraska"

She rolled her eyes and kicked the back of Burt's seat, "Haha, smart guy. Seriously I'm starving, so where are we?"

"Nebraska"

"Okay better question," Delilah, "Where's the lunch stop?"

"Vicky has the road atlas, ask her to look it up" He grinned, "you still remember how to read don't you Vick?" the brunette frowned, "Such a comedian" she hiss sarcastically. "Is this why we got off the interstate? To drive past fields and corn and listen to the wit and wisdom of Burt?"

"Will you just come off it Vicky?!" Burt barked and everyone fell silent as he flipped the radio back on and Vicky pulled out the road atlas.

They drove in silence before Burt eventually caved and flicked off the music, "I'm sorry okay. I'm sorry."

Vicky sighed, "I know" Burt wiped his face, "It's just that I've driven so far on the interstate- 1500 miles. And since you won't drive."

"You know I get migraines if I drive for too long" Vicky cut in and Burt growled, "I know you do! I know, okay? That's why I asked you to navigate for me on some of these secondary roads and you said you would."

Vicky unfolded the map and Delilah leaned over the shoulder of the seat to read. "D? You wanna sit back? If I have to stop you're gonna go right through the windshield." Burt reached over and pushed her back playfully by the forehead and she leaned back pouting as Vicky squinted at the thin squiggles of roads on the map.

"When did we get off the Interstate?" she finally asked,

"Back at Grand Island"

The woman traced a long red line then tapped her nail on the map. "The next town is Gatlin. In about ten miles."

"Whoo Hoo, looks like civilization has made its way to the great plains!" Delilah cheered as her stomach rumbled. "It's nothing but a wide gap in the road but do you think we can stop there to eat?" Vicky asked as that edge came back to her voice, "or does the Almighty Schedule say we have to drive til two o'clock like we did yesterday?" she tossed the Atlas into the back seat and Delilah picked it up to study for a bit, sensing another fight coming on.

"Alright you know what, I have about had it with you!" Burt shot back, "as far as I'm concerned we can call a quits right now!" Delilah glanced up a second. "We can go back and see that Lawyer like we want because I have had en..."

The teen spotted something running toward the road and squinted, leaning forward and setting the map down. It wasn't until she realized what it was and screamed bloody murder before it was too late and the fender of the car made contact with the form of a small child and the rest of it soon followed, running him down with a series of sickening crunches and jerks as Burt laid on the breaks hard.

Delilah flew forward at first before forcing herself back and banging her shoulder and neck on the seat behind her. Her heart fell to her knees and for a moment she actually saw stars as the car came to a complete stop.

"It was a dog." Burt finally said in a pleading voice. "Tell me it was a dog." Vicky was hyperventilating and close to tears. "It was a boy, it was a little boy! He ran out of the corn!"

"Oh my God." Delilah trembled as all the blood ran out of her face. They had hit something, a child, they had run over a little boy in the road.

"He's dead." Vicky stated, "He's dead isn't he?"

"Oh yeah" Burt's fingers were still gripping the wheel in a white knuckle vice hold. Vicky made some gagging noises and opened the car door to throw up before stumbling out of the car. Burt pried his hands off the wheel and turned around to his sister whose head was still reeling and looked like someone had tossed flour in her face she was so pale. "Stay here." he managed to get out.

"Stay in the car, and no matter what don't get out." She didn't reply as he hauled himself out of the car and Vicky hovered toward the body, "It's manslaughter!" she yelled "that's what they call it, you took your eyes off the road! She turned around and saw Burt leaning on the car, un-moving.

"Well don't you wanna come see?" she almost taunted him. "Show all your NRA buddies what you bagged in Nebraska?! Huh?!" Burt opened the trunk and Delilah, against all better judgement, crawled out and forced her legs to support herself on the pavement.

"Don't you want to come see?" she kept at it, "What are you gonna do? What are you going to do!? Answer me! Answer me when I talk to you!" Burt grabbed a brown tarp and began to walk toward the body before pausing to look around.

"Look at me!" Vicky panted as Burt wandered over with the tarp. "how'd you handle it over in Nam huh? How'd you handle it in the hooches? Grease guns right? Grease guns and Zippos."

"Settle down" Burt said calmly. "You're hysterical"

"Oh don't tell me you crapped out, big Vietnam war hero? Huh, whole Purple heart and all that? Huh? Come on _John Wayne,_ what are you going to do? This is no time to go _Section 8!_ " Burt turn toward her, "You ran that little boy down! He was just a little boy, and You. Killed..!"

She didn't get to finish before Burt slapped her across the face, calming her down instantly if not jolting her out of her hysteria. She stared at him.

"You're going to jail. You're going to jail."

Burt leaned forward, "Yeah, you're rabid, it's taken me all this time to figure it out you've got a terminal case of rabies. Shut up." He walked toward the body and knelt down.

Delilah had made her slow way over to them and was still shaky but she was rational. "What are you doing?"

"I'm turning him over." Burt replied, not bothering to scold her for leaving the car. "No, you're not supposed to touch..."

"I wanna see what is did!"

Vicky swallowed, "I can't watch this" Delilah couldn't either but she forced herself to inch forward to watch in sick curiosity.

When he turned the body over it sounded like pealing off rubbery Velcro and they both cringed but stared down. Burt swallowed "his carotid artery and jugular vein have been severed."

"What?" Vicky asked. "His throat's been cut." The blonde teen translated as Burt went on. "someone scragged this kid. Bayonet, maybe a kitchen knife I don't know, sure wasn't a two dollar buck. You get twenty maybe thirty seconds before you bleed out."

"That little boy is dead." Vicky growled.

"Yeah. "

"You ran him down"

"Yes."

And you killed..."

"Yeah He ran him down but He didn't kill him." Delilah said quickly. "This kid had two feet in the grave by the time the car hit him."

"Why would anyone cut a little boy's throat huh?' Vicky demanded.

"Do you like that idea that we killed him too much to let it go?"

"Of course not!"

"Then look!"

Vicky swallowed and leaned over to see the putrid looking gore around the boy's throat before gasping and stumbling back as Burt caught her. "Hey, hey."

Vicky leaned on her husband as Delilah tried to look away but couldn't take her eyes off the mutilated corpse of the child.

"Don't look around, no body look around." Burt whispered. "his throat has been cut, and that corn over there is all bent and twisted," Vicky began to turn but Burt's hand kept her facing front, "Don't look around!"

"Don't act suspicious. Okay? Now we're going to cover this boy up and we're going to put him in the trunk. Alright?"

They all nodded and Burt swallowed. "I'm sorry about this guys."

He took the tarp and cover the boy with it, grabbing his sister's shoulder. "Come on, you gotta stay with me now okay?"

She shuttered and nodded. "okay." She whispered as Burt picked up the body and carried it to the trunk.

"Get in, both of you." Burt said and stopped Vicky, "you know how to drive this thing?"

"You want me to drive?"

"No I want you to wait for me, I'm going to go take a look, I thought I saw something where he came out. I'm not sure." He looked out over the ocean of corn stalks. "You could hide an army in there, the Viet Kong sure did,"

Vicky rolled her eyes at another mention of the war Burt was so proud of. "Scragged right?" she scoffed. "sometimes I think you'd sell your soul to the devil for it to have never ended, that way you can go on doing sweeps and smoking dope for the rest of your life, cause that was the best part of your life wasn't it Burt? Good ole' _Vietnam_ right?"

"This isn't one of your damned consciousness raising groups Vicky."

While the two fought Delilah stared into the green and yellow wall of stalks, swearing every once in a while she could see the slightest hint of movement. As if there was someone or something staring right back at her, as vaguely aware of her as she was of it.

Few a second there, she was tempted to go darting of into the haze of plants without a word. Just run as fast of her feet could carry her like she was chasing something, or like something was chasing her. There was a flicker of black and she blinked before squinting, did she just see something? Or were her eyes going fuzzy from staring into the corn?

"Hey," Burt shook her, "You alright?" She blinked a few times, "I think so."

"Alright well, get in the car with Vicky and don't get out this time okay?"

"Where are you going?" she eyed the rifle in his hands, the one he kept stored in the trunk for safety, through how it would help him stowed away in the back of the car was beyond her. Frankly she thought he just liked the thought of having it around. Years in the jungles of Vietnam with a military rifle on his back, she didn't think he felt complete without one.

"I'm going to see where he came from."

"What? No, Burt come on we need to get the body to the cops! we don't have time to go tracking..."

"Just shut up" Burt cut her off. "And get in the car." She crossed her arms and he frowned. _"Now"_

She huffed and crawled into the back seat again and sighed as Vicky began locking the doors. "Can you get the ones back there?" she asked and Delilah nodded. "Yeah, sure" she reached over and pushed down the metal pegs to lock all the doors. They sat in silence for a while until Vicky honked the horn loudly.

"This doesn't feel right. We have to get to a police station or something and report this." The blonde muttered. "Ole Bully Burt." Vicky growled and began to lay on the horn once more.

"yeah cause that will hurry him up" she sighed and looked behind her out the rear window to see if he was close."I swear I feel like we're being watched."

"That's not funny D." Vicky hissed and the teen shook her head. "I wasn't joking." She turned around just soon enough to swear she could see the shadow of a man pass by the side of her eyes. She gasped and jerked forward.

"What? What's wrong?" Vicky panicked as her sister in law scanned the horizon. "I thought I saw something." She whispered. Vicky growled and unlocked the door. "that's it." She stepped out and looked around while the younger crawled into the front seat. "Vicky wait! I don't think it's safe out there!"

She didn't listen as she yelled out. "Hey! Mr. Comedian! Where are you?!" Delilah looked around nervously until she faced sideways and felt her blood run cold.

There was a young man standing maybe three yards behind Vicky, splattered with blood that caked brown in his longish blonde hair and freckled the right side of his face. He was dressed entirely in black church clothes and carried a blood stained sickle. Her stare caught his eye and he stared back at her intensely before holding up a single finger to his lips and then sliding the edge of the tool across his throat threateningly.

She was so stunned by the sight it took her a moment to register it and start shrieking loudly, making Vicky jump and whip around and the young man dart off into the wall of corn before the other woman could spot him.

"What is it? What's wrong?" It took all of three seconds for Burt to come flying out of the crops to find Vicky trying to get a coherent word out of his sister.

"What happened?"

"I don't know I was calling your name and she just started screaming and..."

"There was a boy." The teen sputtered out.

"What?" Burt knelt down to be eye level with her. "There was a boy and he was covered in blood and he had a sickle and Oh my God We have to get out of here!" she babbled as Burt stood up and held his rifle at the ready, scooping the area.

"Where was he?"

The teen pointed at the edge of the corn. "He was right there I swear to God he was!"

"Delilah Are you sure you saw some one?" Vicky asked like she was speaking to a crying child and the teen grew furious. "Yes I'm sure, he was standing right behind you on the edge of the corn and he stared at me and I..."

"Okay, Alright. I believe you" Vicky nodded. "Just get back in to car, Burt." She stood up. "Burt we need to get to a police station, now."

Burt nodded "yeah. Get in the car, everyone in the car let's go" Vicky ducked in and slid to the passenger's seat and Burt pushed in a faded brown suitcase with red dots sprinkling it. "What is that?"

"I think it's his, I found it in the corn." Burt put it in the back and the younger girl stiffened, "I-is that blood, is that his blood?!" Burt put the gun in the back as well without responding and started the car before speeding off down the road.

As they drove it began to cloud over and lighting flashed in the distance as rain pelted the car. "Now you're sure you could describe this guy to a sketch artist or something?"

"I'm sure, I couldn't forget him if I tried to." Delilah shuttered and edged away from the suitcase by her leg. "What did you say the next down was?"

"Gatlin" Vicky replied. "Is it big enough to have a police station?" Burt asked, peering over the wheel and she sighed. "No, it's just a dot."

"Well, the boy was on foot right? Had to have come from somewhere close and Gatlin's the only town for eighty Miles." Burt rationalized.

"If you say so" Vicky swallowed as they sped down the empty country road past acres and acres of corn.


	2. Chapter 2

It seemed as if the road would never end but the hunger in Delilah's stomach had disappeared. Now even the thought of food made her feel queasy and she tried not to gaze at the blood spattered suitcase only a few feet away.  
"Why would anyone want to kill a little kid?"  
"I don't know" Burt glanced back, "But we might get a better idea if we look inside that." Delilah stared at the suitcase.  
"You really think so?" Vicky asked seriously and Burt shrugged, "Probably not but It's worth a shot."  
"I don't want to touch it" Delilah declined and hugged her arms. "Just pass it up here it Vick." Burt ordered and the teen swallowed before hesitantly reaching for the case and passing it up to her sister in law as quickly as possible. Vicky settled the case on her lap and began to fiddle with the knotted ropes that secured it shut.  
Delilah stared out the window and watched a large white, decrepit barn pass by them, and as quickly as it flew by she could have sworn she saw movement. "Hey, we just passed a Barn. Maybe there's someone there."  
"No, it's abandoned, no power feeds from the road. We'll have to wait until we get to Gatlin." Burt shook his head and struggled with the radio, nothing but static for miles. "Sometimes I think you see everything." Vicky almost laughed. "Freaks me out sometimes. It really does."  
"It just feels like this is my responsibility Vicky, it really does. I hit him. Even if he was bleeding to death when I did, I don't see everything Vicky but I should have seen him. I took my eyes off the road." He sighed and continued to fiddle with the knobs, "Tell this to your American studies class back home. In Nebraska, the radio hasn't been invented yet."  
"Nothing at all?" Delilah asked curiously.  
"Ziltch"  
Vicky grunted, "The other knot's coming out." She pulled of the chords as a loud voice emerged suddenly from the white static, making them all jump.  
"Atonement! Only by the Blood of the Lamb are we saved! Atonement is the word, brothers and sisters!"  
"Oh god" Delilah growled. But she had to note that the voice sounded off, not the voice of a potbellied minister hollering into a radio wearing black slacks that strained against a pair of elastic suspenders, waving the good book around his head for the congregation to see while he slammed his meaty fists onto the wood podium.  
The voice was youthful, but full of fire. Like a fourth grader delivering an unusually impassioned oral exam.  
"No wonder we're coming in fine now, we're right by the radio towers" Burt pointed out the tall structure of metal caging.  
"Holy Jesus! When they gonna know that way is dead? When they gonna know that the wages of the world are paid on the other side?" Burt and Vicky chuckled uncomfortably as the unusual preacher carried on.  
"That there's no room for the fornicators!" in the background an echo of "NO!" was heard from the congregation, who also sounded unusually young. "No room for the defiler of the corn, No vacancy! No room for the homosexuals, no vacancy! No room…"  
"This drivel makes me sick" Vicky turned off the radio with a disgusted hiss. "Same here" Delilah agreed, relieved when the noise went silent.  
"What did he say about the corn?" Burt asked and Vicky shook her head. "I wasn't listening."  
"He said something about the corn, I know he did."  
"I think he said, No room for the Defilers of the Corn, or something like that." Delilah pondered. "Probably just some weird old testament crap."  
They continued to drive until the spotted a white plastic mailbox and beaten down shop of some kind.  
"Hey! There is life in Nebraska!" Burt pulled over to the side of the road. "Are you sure anyone's here?" Vicky asked and Burt shrugged. "Doesn't matter I just need to use a pay phone. I gotta report this, the murder." He turned to look at Vicky, "You alright?"  
Vicky nodded. "Yeah, I will be. As soon as we're a thousand miles away from here, sunny, sinful California. With the rocky mountains between us and Nebraska."  
Burt dug in the side cup of the car. "You got any change?"  
Vicky didn't bother looking in her purse. "Nope"  
Delilah grabbed her cinch purse, "Here, I think I have fifty cents." She dug around and located Four dimes, two nickels, and a quarter. "That should be enough." She handed him the coins and he nodded. "Thanks"  
He left them but arrived back only a few minutes later, out of breath as he handed Delilah back her change. "We'll be in town in a few minutes"  
They peeled out and Vicky stared out the window with a distasteful look on her face. "Looks like fold in Galtin got Religion"  
"I thought everyone in Nebraska had religion" Delilah looked out the glass as well to see signs passing them back, each one had a single word on it. "A cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night" Vicky read out loud.  
"Well when they called it the Bible Belt they weren't kidding" Burt stated as Delilah squinted, reading as each sign passed by. "Take this. And Eat. So Sayth. The Lord. God. Of. Hosts." She sighed and settled back down. "That's what they say when they give you communion. I bet they use corn bread for holy wafer around these parts"  
"I got it!" Vicky pulled apart the final knot. "Atta girl." Burt cheered without passion as she opened it up. Delilah leaned over the seat to observe the contents of the case. A set of clothes that looked almost Amish.  
"A shirt, Belt…" she pulled out a child sized tie with a large metal medallion pinned on it, "what's this?"  
"That's a real golden Oldie." Burt took the tie and examined it. "Huh." He set it down and thought. "Did anything strike you as funny about that radio sermon?"  
Vicky scoffed. "You were obviously never the son of a preacher. Dragged from tent to tent going to meetings. Hearing every kind of evangelist praying on the uneducated, the lonely, and the weak instead of praying for them." There was a thick layer of bitter sadness in her voice. "I've had enough of that religious crap to last me forever."  
Burt nodded. "Yeah but didn't this preacher sound young to you?"  
"I noticed that to." Delilah agreed until Vicky jerked back on her seat. "Oh My God." The car screeched to a halt and they all turned their attention to Vicky and what she was holding in two trembling brown hands.  
It was a crude piece of art that's for sure. Made of corn husks and twine, it resembled a crucifix only secured on a large X instead of a cross.  
"Whoa," Burt took it from her, "fantastic piece of workmanship" he turned it over in his hands to study it as Vicky rubbed hers together as if to cleanse them. "Real American Primitive."  
"It's hideous" Vicky spat. "It's a blasphemy, throw it out."  
"No, the police will want to see this."  
"Why?"  
"I don't know, evidence maybe."  
"Just throw it out!" Vicky demanded harshly. "Will you do that for me? I don't want it in the car!"  
Delilah nodded. "I agree with Vicky, just get rid of that thing. I don't have a good feeling about it."  
Burt shook his head, "a bad feeling isn't enough reason to destroy evidence, tell you what. We'll put all this back in the suitcase and in the back for now. And as soon as we see the cops we'll give them everything. The suit case, the body, the whole works, okay?"  
Vicky stuffed everything back in the case and closed it. "Do what you want, okay?" she sniffed. As Burt took the case and the doll and threw it in the back by his sister who gently kicked it away with the edge of her foot and set the doll on the ground of the car as it had landed in her lap.

"You will anyway"

(Five miles way, in the town of Galtin)  
A congregation of children, ranging from ages three to eighteen, sat in rows before a young boy with dark hair and a black wide brimmed hat. He held aloft a crude effigy composed of corn husks before the group.  
"Behold, a dream did come to me in the night." He boasted to them, "I dreamed the Lord was a shadow who walked behind the rows, and God spoke to me as he has spoken to our older brothers since us children started making sacrifice."  
"Praise God, Praise the Lord." The obedient listeners hailed in unison.  
"And God told me all that has happened since. God said to me Joseph will take his things and flee this happy place because the fear of me is no longer upon him" The child told them, "so take you his life in punishment, not in sacrifice. Let not his flesh pollute the corn but cast his body upon the road, so thus ever more will Joseph Betrayer of the Corn, be known as Ahaz, Cursed of God,"  
"Yea, so it is. Joseph the non-believer, yea Ahaz be cursed." They chanted as the boy continued.  
"And the Lord did say, I will send outlanders among you. A Man and a Woman, and a convert for my flock. And these un-believers will be profaners and defilers of the corn. Then shall your faith be tested as it was in the days of the Blue Man."  
"The Blue Man" they turned to a rotting corpse supported on a giant wooden X, dressed in a bloodied blue uniform, metal badge dangling off the limp fabric. "Yea, the Blue Man."  
"He Who Walks Behind The Rows has protected us from the outside world and provided for us since the oldest among us were little. But a time of tribulation has come. A test is at hand!"  
One of the oldest boys stepped forward. "We will welcome the test."  
"Show not your pride Malakai. For does not the bible say the lord will not lift up his countenance upon the prideful man?" The child preacher scolded the elder who backed down contritely.  
"What did God say we must do?"  
The boy turned to the crowd "God told me, "Be not like Ahaz whose fate did desert him, for my name is strong here, my power is great. I'm the Lord of lords, so now you must make sacrifices to me and behold the unbelievers who've come to fulfill this purpose."  
The older boy raised his sickle aloft over his head. "Make sacrifice, yea" the other boys behind his mimicked the action with their weapons.  
"This is the word of He Who Walks Behind The Rows." The child informed the flock. "We do his work from shine to shadow. And it is well we do this. Verily Yea."  
"Verily Yea!" the flock responded and began to depart but the eldest boy, Malakai, remained behind to face the child preacher. "Isaac, what of the girl convert with the man and woman?"  
The boy looked up at him until he knelt down to face him fully. "She will be unwilling to join us, for the Holy Spirit is not upon her as it is with us and ours. Instead she must be brought to accept He Who Walks Behind The Rows and she must witness our strength through him our Lord."  
Malakai nodded and stood. "God's will be done"


	3. Chapter 3

They finally arrived in town to find it as dead and silent as the rest of the country side. "Do you smell that, it stinks?" Vicky covered her nose and Delilah sniffed the air. "It's fertilizer, it's what makes the corn grow green." She read the sign as they passed. "Gatlin. Population 542." They drove past a bone yard and streets full of empty, decrepit shops. But the strangest thing about the town wasn't that it was obviously abandoned, it was the fact that there were hundreds of dead corn stalks strewn almost deliberately around the entire town. Leaning on mailboxes, stuffed in window shutters, even woven into the fences. "You are now entering The Twilight Zone" she attempted to break the tension with a nervous chuckle but it wasn't shared as Vicky finally got tired of the suspense. "Just stop right here." she demanded as they pull alongside the road in front of an empty shop. Delilah watched as a lone dog wonderer out off an alley and fearlessly laid itself in front of the car. "Let's turn around Burt." Vicky finally said. "Let's just take the body back to Grand Island." "No, Grand Island is 70 miles away in the wrong direction, it would look funny if we brought him there." Burt rationalized "I don't care!"  
"What's wrong?"  
"What do you mean what's wrong?" Delilah chimed in, "Look around! The entire place is empty, there is no one here but us."  
"You don't know that." Burt pointed out. "It's a small town they could all be down town having a bake sale or something." Vicky stared at him incredulously. "There's no one here. Do you remember that gas station?"  
"Yeah what about it?"  
"When was the last time you paid thirty five nine for gas in this country?"  
But rubbed his face and sighed. "The sixties, maybe." "We're in the middle of town and we haven't seen a single car moving, not one car." She pointed out and Delilah silently agreed, her eyes flickering from window to window around the car. Even if the town was deserted, she couldn't shake the feeling that they were not alone.  
Burt growled and kicked open the car door. "Where are you going?" Vicky pleaded and Burt leaned on the hood. "I'm going to go pull that hair out of your ass. The sign says open, I'm going in."  
Vicky frowned, "and you're just going to leave me and D, alone in the car" "Hey you two wanted an early lunch stop. Congrats, you got it. And not one word about what happened to the boy, alright." Delilah crossed her arms and bit the inside of her cheek but nodded. "Fine, Vick? What do you think?" Vicky sighed and shook her head, "If you think so" They all exited the vehicle and Delilah was glad she wore a light sun dress because it felt like Nebraska hadn't seen a drop of rain in a decade. "You've got a broken headlight Mister." Vicky said casually. "Blood on it to, like you hit a dog or something. Hmm?" Burt sighed and made for the door but Vicky put herself in front of it. "Do you hear it?"  
"Hear what?"  
"The Nothing, There are no cars, no people, no fertilizer spreaders there's nothing."  
They all paused and in the distance there was a sound after all. Children.  
"I hear kids." Burt gave her an "I told you so" look. "Don't you?"  
They entered the shop and it too was completely in a state of decay, and just like the rest of the town was filled with dead corn stalks. Tables and chair were overturned and a thick layer of dust coated everything like frosting. Burt made for the phone but the line was cut. Delilah realized she hadn't used the bathroom in four hours and grunted uncomfortably before wondering to the back of the store to find two doors clearly marked Men and Women. She hesitated but pushed open the ladies room door and found the room decrepit, old, and questionable. But not all together disgusting.  
All the same she did her business as quickly as she could, making sure not to make contact with the bowl before scrubbing her hands under the rusty faucet. She looked up and frowned before taking a paper towel and quickly cleaning the glass mirror which was cracked in several places.  
She fumbled with her purse and paused a moment, feeling something dry and papery in her bag before pulling out the doll from the boy's suitcase. It must have ended up in her purse at some point, how she had no idea. She took a moment to properly examine the doll. Burt was right, it was similar to American native art, with some gruesome Christian twist to it. With a sigh she held onto the doll and exited the restroom to find the place once again empty. The only problem was that the blue car in which she had arrived at driven off without her. "Son of a Bitch!" she cursed and looked round the roads were abandoned and so was she. And to make matters worse, she could swear someone was staring at her. "Okay, don't panic. Burt wouldn't be one to leave town. So they probably drove that way" she pointed in town opposite the way they came. "I'll just walk until I find them. Not a big town, can't be too hard." She spotted the dog laying where the car had been staring at her. "Right?" she asked it and the dog whined before resting its muzzle on its paws. "Right." She told herself. So she started walking down the empty streets and found herself imagining what this place must have been like in its heyday. She could picture folks gathering out the local soda shop like a Norman Rockwell painting, and simple farm hands driving down the streets in rusty pickups, whistling at girls walking on the pavement. In her mind she could see mothers and fathers dragging kids down the streets and to church on Sunday morning and teenagers joyriding Friday and Saturday nights. "What happened?" she asked herself. The doll still in her hands she looked down at it, turning it over and over until she got the feeling someone was just a few yards away from her. She slowly looked up and swallowed hard before whipping around. Nothing.  
Just corn stalks and dirt. "Hello?" she called, "is anyone there?" No answer just dead silence. Her grip on the doll tightened and she began to fast walk, then jog down the street. The sound of her sandals on the road being the only obvious sign of life. She finally made her way to what must have been the middle of town and found the back door of the church. Unlocked, she could waltz right in, which she did. "Hello?" she called. She crept through, kicking corn husks as she did and found Burt standing at the front of the altar. "Burt?" she called and he jumped slightly. "Delilah?" He looked around. "How did you…"  
"You left me at that shop dumbass" she hissed and picked up one of the ears of corn laying around and chucked it at him. "How could you forget your own sister in a ghost town?!"  
"I'm sorry. Vicky and I just sorta…"  
"Sorta what Burt?! Forgot you had a third member of this party?"  
"look would you keep it down?" he hissed. "Look at this?" he pointed to the altar and Delilah stared at it, sucking in a sharp breath. It was a much larger version of the doll in her hand. Pinned to the wall like a bizarre version of the crucifixion. "Burt, I really think we should just get out of here." she finally said. "You've had your fun but this is getting too weird for my taste. Where's Vicky?"  
"She in the car."  
"You left her out there?!"  
"She wouldn't come in!"  
Delilah began to panic, "Burt, there is someone in this town I can feeling. We are not alone." Burt perked up. "You found someone, do they have a phone we can use, and can they help us?"  
"Burt, Burt!" she stopped him, "I don't think these are the sort of people to help a stranger." She whispered. "I really really think we need to leave right now." Outside the car horn began to blare loudly and a chill went up Delilah's spine as she grabbed Burt's arm. "Come on let's go." Burt pulled away. "It's just Vicky throwing another tantrum now look. You've been through a lot, we have all been through a lot today okay? Now there is no one here, whatever you think you felt, there is no one here." "Burt you don't understand we need to leave before something really bad happens!"  
The honking stopped suddenly and Burt raised a hand, "see, she realized she not getting her way and she stopped." Delilah wanted to go out there and see if she was alright but at the same time was terrified of what she might find so she paced the husk filled pews of the church until there was a loud boom outside. A gunshot Delilah swallow and ran for the front door to find a group of men in white shirt and black pants absolutely demolishing the car and Vicky's muffled screams could be heard faintly from inside the car.  
"Burt!" She screamed as they began to disperse and a single man came forth to Vicky, reaching over the torn canvas top and raising a sickle high before looking up at the top of a roof for a second then driving the point of the weapon down. A few boys came forth and dragged the body way as Delilah left form a second horrified scream that caught the attention of the group as Burt went running toward the car. Delilah recognized the man as the boy who she saw in the fields on the road. "Burt!" she almost ran for him until the man held something invisible to her eyes in front of him. "No more Brother." He smiled and struck the match on the hilt of the sickle before throwing it at the punctured gas tank. The group spread further as the car went up on flames with a good sized explosion. A black mushroom cloud of soot and smoke rose high about them and Delilah's feet finally became unglued from their spot. "Vicky!" she yelled and darted for the ruins. Burt catching her as she ran for it and pinning her arms to her sides. "No, no, no, no, no." she sobbed and spotted the lead boy, the blonde from before, staring at her with a sick glint in his eye. "Where is she?" she demanded, "What have you done with her?!" He raised his sickle and drug it across his throat as he had on the road and she swallowed. "You killed her."  
"The time of sacrifice is at hand" he informed her cryptically. Delilah stared at him, "Sacrifice?" she felt her soul contort with rage. "You Sick son of a Bitch!" She lunged at him, only being held back by Burt.  
"You Bastard, you killed her!" "Do not waste your grief on a sinner sister." He barked. "We only do God's will here"  
That drove her other the edge. Jerking out of Burt's hands she grabbed a shard of glass of the pavement, slicing open her fingers and palm, and ran at him. Strangely he didn't raise his weapon at her, only seizing her wrists and pushing against her weight as she grappled with him and struggled to drive the glass into his body. He glance up at the building across from them at Isaac who watched the exchange. The Boy shook his head and Malakai grunted and pushed her away, sending her to the ground. "Our quarrel is not with you sister." He stated plainly and took a step forward toward Burt, whom Isaac pointed to with purpose. Burt looked around at the boys who raised their weapons. "Delilah, Run." He whispered and she stared at him, not fulling comprehending. "I said run! Run! Run God Dammit!" He yelled and she obeyed, pushing off the ground and darting in the opposite direction as her brother ran in the other. "after him!" Malakai ordered and stopped two boy, a beefy eighteen year old named Mark and a lean pole of a boy named Jacob. "You two go get the girl, do not let her escape, bring her back alive and unharmed."  
They nodded and began after Delilah who had made it to the old hardware store before twisting her ankle. "Shit." She cursed and saw the two figures coming over the hill. She pulled herself up and ran on ignoring the pain in her leg. Eventually she had an idea and doubled back, sprinting through the alley behind the stores until she reached the hardware store again and struggled to get in. the back door was locked and the only option was to break the glass in the window.  
She pulled off her sandal and used the wooden heel to smash the glass, catching the attention of the boy who turned around and ran back. She pulled herself in through the window and searched desperately for a weapon. The best thing she could get her hands on was an iron crowbar. Gripping the tool she hid behind the old clerk's desk as the two entered the store through the front door, as they inched their way through the store she knelt quiet as a mouse until they were both on the other side of the counter "She's in here, I heard the glass break." "Where is she?" Delilah heard one of them lean on the counter and she gripped the crowbar tightly as she began to slip out from under the counter as they faced away from her, gripping a pitchfork and a sickle tightly. "Hey!" she bark and swung the bar like a baseball bat as the beefy one turned quickly and the iron connect with his jaw, knocking him to the ground. The lean on lurched across the counter to grab her but she swung again and cracked him in the elbow, most likely cracking a good few bones. He lashed out with the sickle and sliced open her upper arm just below the shoulder and ripping though the fabric of her bodice, just barely missing the skin of her chest. She let out a howl and brought the crowbar down toward his head but he grabbed it and jerked her over the counter and twisting the crowbar out of her hands. "Let me go, Let me go you Bastard!" she screamed. "Burt! Burt!"  
"The sinner will not help you sister" he pulled her upper arm and pressed his sickle to her throat as the beefy one pulled himself up, holding onto his slack jaw. Delilah jerked and flailed against him until the blade began to slice into the skin of her throat and she froze, whimpering. "Please don't kill me." She whispered. He grabbed one of her arms as the bigger boy grabbed the other and together they dragged her out into the street and down the road toward the wreckage of the car. 


	4. Chapter 4

(Right so I just realized that I have been spelling Malachai's name incorrectly for the past two chapters, so sorry about that)

They came upon Isaac and Malachai in the alley across from the scene of the slaughter. The fires were dying down but still strong and the air was thick with the smell of smoke and gasoline. Delilah had started crying involuntarily and the blood from her arm and hand had begun to dry and cake to her skin and dress. The two boys dragged her most of the way as she stumbled along, unable to put any weight on her ankle.

"Malachai, Isaac. We've found the outlander" The larger boy called and presented the girl before them. "Who are you people?" She demanded. "Where's my brother?"

"The sinner will be found soon enough. He is no longer any concern of yours." The tall blond informed her as the two dropped her arms and she wobbled on her feet, hissing in pain. The blond eyed the other two critically, "I told you to bring her unharmed." He barked and the boy preacher stepped forward to Delilah.

"How old are you?" he asked in a childlike voice that threw her off, as did the fact that he could not have been more than nine years old, with a wide brim black hat that somehow made his small pale face look almost angelic.

She didn't answer at first and Malachai growled, gripping the nape of her neck suddenly. "You were asked a question outlander, now speak!" He pushed her to her knees and she yelped like a kicked dog.

"Your age." The youngest boy repeated and Delilah swallowed. "Sixteen, I'm sixteen. Who _are_ you people?"

The little boy was able to actually look down on her at this angle and did so, giving him a look of authority. "We are your path to Salvation, you are most privileged He Who Walks Behind The Rows has chosen you to come to us."

"What?" Delilah pushed herself to her feet. "You're all insane! You're all God Damn Lunatics!"

"Take not the Lord's name in vain Blasphemer!" Malachai shoved her to the ground and stepped forward, wielding his sickle threateningly before Isaac held out his arm. "Do not harm her, she knows not what she says." He looked up at the older boy, "did not the Lord say onto me that the Holy Spirit was not with her as it is with us."

The young boy took a few steps and knelt in front of her on his knees. "What is your name Outlander?" She swallowed, pressed against the brick all. Her eyes flicked from person to person and she knew she was vastly out matched and outnumbered. She then realized she must have waited too long to answer his question because Malachai palmed his weapon warningly.

"Delilah, Delilah Stanton." She said quickly and Malachai scoffed.

"Even her name is full of wickedness." He hissed and she glared at him. Isaac didn't say anything but surprisingly he leaned forward and took her hand, which was much larger than his was, into his own. "It is time you turn your back on your life of Sin sister. Repent and join our holy order, or burn at the end of this life."

She stared at him in confusion and fear, not knowing what she could possibly say to something like that in this situation. Finally she swallowed and wet her throat before opening her mouth.

"Where is my brother?"

Isaac stood. "Take her to the village and make sure she cannot escape before coming out to the field. We must find the other Outlander." He told the two who had brought her.

"Wait, he's still alive?" She stood up as the two gripped her arms. "He's alive, and you'll never find him!" she insisted as they dragged her away. "You'll never find him!"

Malachai and Isaac watched her be escorted away, unflinching at her words. "The Lord has spoken to me again Malachai, a warning." Isaac told his man. "What did he say?"

"He has told me that he has sent the girl for two reasons, to be a convert but also to test us. I did not understand until now."

"What sort of test is it to be Isaac?" Malachai asked.

"A Test of faith against deception and temptation. It is no accident she bears the name of a harlot and a liar. Do you recall the tale Malachai?" The blond nodded. "Yes, Isaac."

"We must be wary of her, though we accept her into the flock. Until she accepts the will of God she must be seen as dangerous." Isaac concluded ad turned toward the road. "We must go, the outlander must be found before darkness falls."

Meanwhile Delilah was escorted into a small village area filled with women all dressed in nearly identical dressed with white aprons. "Ruth" the lean boy called forward a heavily pregnant girl about Delilah's age. She was pretty, very pretty, with a hair full of brown waves and a heart shaped face and wide brown eyes.

"We have found the outlander, but the man is still missing. Isaac said to take care of her, and make sure she doesn't escape." Ruth nodded and led them all to a small cottage with a single room and a small cot. "Marian and I made this up when we learned we would have a new convert" she told them and pointed to the cot where the two boys threw her down.

She hissed as she landed on her ankle which had began to swell and turn an ugly red color. "What happened to her?" Ruth asked in what Delilah was relieved to hear was legitimate concern. "She fought too hard, it looks worse than it is." The beefy boy shuffled and Ruth frowned at them. "Bring Abigale and the medicine kit before you go. We need to bind her wounds before she gets a fever."

They nodded and left, and Ruth turned to Delilah with a soft face. "Do not be afraid." She told her. "As long as you follow our rules no harm will come to you."

"Please" Delilah felt herself tearing up once more. "Please, I need to leave. I need to find my brother he-he might be hurt. He needs my help."

"Shh, sh sh sh" Ruth reached forward and stroked her hair softly. "Do not fret sister, you will soon see that all will be well." A young girl of about ten brought a medical kit to the door and Ruth took it from her and sent her away.

"Why do you call me that? I'm not your sister, I'm Burt's sister and he needs help!" Delilah snapped harder than she meant to but Ruth did not even flinch but took her hand and pulled her arm out. "I must clean your wounds." She said plainly and Delilah stared at her until Ruth looked up, aware of her gaze.

"You have many questions sister. But they must wait."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Delilah asked. "I've been chased, cut, threatened, my sister in law is dead, and who knows where Burt is. Not to mention that awful boy with the sickle, what's his name, Michael or something?"

"Malachai." Ruth corrected her, "My husband." Delilah was shocked. "You're married to _him?_ "

Ruth smiled and placed a hand on her swollen stomach. "He is a fine husband, even if he has a temper." Delilah swallowed. "Well, no offense to you, I mean you seem very nice. But I honestly think you could do better. I mean aren't you afraid of him?"

Ruth looked at the door way fondly and smiled, "No."

Delilah shrugged. "You must see something in him I can't" Ruth wrapped her arm and hand with cotton strips and cleansed the cuts with a stinging liquid. "What is that?" Delilah snatched her hand back as she poured it out of a small glass bottle, it burned twice as much as rubbing alcohol.

"Corn liquor, we are forbidden to drink it but it sterilizes wounds quite well." Ruth tightly wrapped the hand until it was not much more than a mitten.

"I never asked your name." Ruth realized as she cradled Delilah's swollen ankle in her lap. "It's sprained, we haven't any ice to take down the swelling but I can bind it" the blonde swallowed. "Delilah"

Ruth stiffened, wondering why anyone would name a child that.

"I didn't pick it, but I mean it's better than Jezebel right?"

"Isaac might make you change it, once you convert that is." Ruth warned her and Delilah blinked. "Uh, can he do that?"

"Oh you get a say in the change of course. But I think you should change it to Naomi."

"Uh, why?"

"I already feel as though you and I will be great friends, and in the bible Ruth and Naomi were inseparable." Ruth explained with a voice laced with excitement, "when Isaac told us there was to be a new girl convert coming, I was so excited. Not a lot happens around here."

She paused for a moment and her face fell. "You aren't planning on leaving are you?" Delilah swallowed, feeling very on the spot. "I don't think I will have much of a say in the matter."

Ruth hummed and stood up. "I must help get dinner ready for the men, but in the mean time I am sorry about this."

"About what?"

Ruth turned and pulled out an iron pike and a short length of iron chain attached to a rusted cuff. "I can't let you escape, but I can't watch over you all the time either. So until you can be trusted not to run away you have to wear this when you're not being escorted."

She drove the end over the pike until the ground until the top was level with the dirt and then looked at Delilah's good ankle expectantly. The blonde cast her a pleading look but sighed and offered up her ankle, only doing so knowing that it was the only way by now. She clapped it around her ankle and hooked a pad lock through the holes to keep it shut.

"I know it must be uncomfortable but I'll be back soon to bring you food, maybe then you won't have to wear it." Ruth said hopefully and stood up, holding on to her stomach as she did and give her a smile. "I really hope we're going to be good friends."

Delilah nodded and paused as the brunette made for the open door. "Ruth?" she said suddenly and she stopped. "I uh, considering the circumstances I mean, I just want to say… thank you."

Ruth smiled. "I am only doing God's work."

"No I mean." She licked her lips, "Everyone else, Isaac and Malachai and them, they haven't killed me because of God's will but you, you're the only person who's been nice to me so…thank you." Ruth beamed, glowing from both the pregnancy and from the statement. "You're welcome sister." She nodded and left quickly, leaving her alone.

"But I _really_ wish you wouldn't call me that," she muttered.


	5. Chapter 5

**A big thanks to Sonic Key for taking the time to read and review. I have taken your advice to heart and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

At the dinner table the room was abuzz with talk, and also of gossip about the strange girl in the new cottage.

"I heard she's a savage and has to be chained to the floor."

"I heard she looks like an angel."

"Well I heard she looked like a demon."

The men entered one by one and set aside their weapons. Those who had wives were greeted by them, even Malachai who spied his bride across the table and shook his head stoically when she asked with her eyes _Well?_

The sun sank low below the corn, and Delilah had the perfect view of it from the open door way. She didn't bother messing with the chain, though she did try to dig out the pike to no avail, now she sat thinking of Burt, praying that he was okay and Alive, and that those little Psychos hadn't done him in like Vicky.

She heard a dull roar of chatter from the dining hall where all the children converged and suddenly felt her empty stomach rumble painfully.

"Oh shut up" she hissed and laid down on the cot as well as she could.

What was she going to do? There was no way she could stay here with the lot, for Christ's Sake, they killed her sister in law and could very well have killed her brother as well and now they were holding her hostage.

But then again there was Ruth, who was so kind to her, and maybe it would be easier to just stay, play along.

"The fuck is wrong with you?" she whispered and shot up into a sitting position, "you can't stay here you nut."

In the mess hall, prayer had been said and now everyone ate eagerly. Ruth sat by her husband and sighed.

"So I spoke with the Outlander, when I was binding her wounds." Malachai paused and slowly sat down the cob of corn.

"Hum?" he grunted, waiting for her to go on.

"I think I will take her a plate of food before church." She continued carefully, "she must be exhausted, and very hungry."

Malachai swallowed. "I do not think it wise to spend much time with her"

"She's scared, and alone now." Ruth said with pity. "It's just like in the Bible, when Moses left Egypt and met his wife and her people and 'I have been a stranger in a strange land'. "

"Do not preach the gospel to me Ruth" Malachai snapped but looked away when she gazed at him with hurt eyes.

"How is she to learn that she was meant to be here, just as Moses was meant to be there, if she does not have anyone to welcome her?"

Malachai thought before nodding, "Take her food, but nothing more, not until Isaac tells us more about her." Ruth nodded and began to place small amount of food on a plate. She reached for a silver fork before Malachai's hand stopped her.

"Nothing she can use as a weapon."

Ruth sighed but nodded. "I won't be long, I promise."

She slipped out of the hall with the plate and made for the cottage in the twilight.

"Delilah?" she whispered into the darkened cottage. "I brought you some food."

"Ruth?" the Blonde's voice came from a far corner of the room, as far as the chain would allow. "Is that you?"

"Yes" Ruth smiled and squinted. "I thought you might be hungry. Hold on, I will bring you a candle." She set the plate on a small table and rushed for her own cottage and brought back a half melted wax pillar and a match which she lit quickly to see the outline of Delilah in the corner. She was trembling.

"What's the matter?" she asked and moved forward. "Please, the chain is hurting my ankle. I think it's too tight, look."

She outstretched her hand from the darkness and her fingers were stained with wet, ruby blood from a fresh wound. Ruth gasped and reached for the medical kit and pulled the padlock key from her apron pocket.

"Here, let me bind that before it gets infected." She knelt by the ankle which was smeared with blood, too much to discern where the wound might be, and unlocked the cuff.

As soon as the cuff was off Delilah was like a bolt of lightning. Ruth barely dodged her as she bolted out the door and for the edge of the corn.

"Stop!" she yelled, "Come Back!"

Her cried called the attention of those inside and a few men, including Malachai came darting out with their weapons.

"She's trying to get away!" she yelled and the men ran for the escaping figure, the biggest boy named Abraham, who was a large wall of a man, caught her by the waist just as she entered the barrier of the corn field and dragged her back, kicking and screaming and swearing.

She had blood pooling from her lips and dripping down her chin and neck, she had bitten the inside of her mouth hard enough to draw blood then smeared her fingers and ankle with it to trick Ruth into aiding her.

It was a dirty trick, and one she now regretted, after seeing the hurt in Ruth's eye. She wanted to apologize but she saw that would mean little at the moment.

"Do you wish for death?!" Malachai stormed forward and grabbed her by the throat, "Or are you just stupid?"

Delilah spit the still leaking blood into his face and an instant silence fell over the crowd as Malachai threw her down in a rage and with a roar kicked her in the stomach hard. Then another kick, and then another until Ruth got past the dirty trick and ran forward.

"Malachai Stop it!" she grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, "Stop it, you're going to kill her! Please!" He stumbled back and glared at Delilah who rolled on her side and threw up a mixture of stomach acid and more blood than before.

Isaac came forth and stared at her for a moment before turning to the folk of children.

"Go to the Church, and prepare for service." They obeyed, except Malachai, Ruth, and Isaac.

Isaac looked at Malachai expectantly and the blond nodded reluctantly before stepping forward once more. Delilah scrambled back, expecting another onslaught of pain but instead the boy offered his hand to her. She stared at in in confusion and looked past it at Ruth who nodded. Delilah glance at the hand then at Malachai's unreadable face before brushing aside his hand and pulled herself up out of the dirt.

"Whether you choose to believe it or not, Abraham saved your life this night Outlander." Isaac informed her. "If you had succeeded in making it into the field we could not have brought you back, and He Who Walks Behind The Rows would certainly have taken you."

She stared at the little boy, "and why would he have cared about that?"

"We must not let the flesh pollute the corn." He told her cryptically and she smiled bitterly.

"Well, I guess you had better hope my brother hasn't died out there then." She turned to the brunette behind her and swallowed.

"I am Sorry Ruth, but understand…" She shrugged. "I had to at least try."

She glanced at Malachai who wiped his arm over his face and left streaks of red blood on his skin.

"You don't get an apology"

Isaac came to her side and looked up at her coldly, "Since you cannot be trusted alone, you will instead attend service with the rest. Perhaps if you enter our holy place you will indeed feel the presence of He Who Walks Behind The Rows, and will be more willing to join his flock"

Delilah eyed him, wondering how it was possible for such a young child to control so many people.

The child turned to Ruth and Malachai, "Ruth, you have bonded with the Outlander and therefore know her better than any, I lay the task to you to be her guide. Do you accept this holy mission?"

"Yes Isaac." She stepped forward, and then eyed Delilah with the same kindness but now there was a twinge of mistrust in her eyes. "I will look after her."

She stepped forward and Delilah found she couldn't look at her. This girl was the only person to show her kindness but she was reluctant to accept it.

"Delilah?"

The blonde looked up and found Ruth offering her hand, "Will we go to service then?"

Delilah stared at her for what felt like an eternity, as if a battle for her very being was taking place and the victor would be decided on her next action.

The battle ended in a compromise, instead of taking Ruth's hand Delilah clamped her own two behind her back in a vice like grip.

"Fine" she whispered and took a few forced steps forward.

This seemed to encourage Ruth, who instead of backing down from her refusal, took a few steps forward and hooked her own arm through the gap.

"Come along then, or we'll be late."

Delilah trudged along beside her in low spirits, she hadn't lost the battle.

But she sure as hell hadn't won it either.


	6. Chapter 6

The Chapel was filled with young men, with Ruth and Delilah being the only girls in the entire church.

"What's happening?" Delilah whispered as they sat in the back pew, Ruth keeping a firm grip on her arm.

"I'm not sure, Women aren't usually allowed in the church." Ruth replied quietly and Delilah rolled her eyes and was not able to suppress a scoff of derision.

"What?" Ruth eyed her curiously and Delilah shook her head.

"This is one of _those_ Churches" she muttered bitterly and Ruth looked around to see if anyone had heard her remark.

"What do you mean?"

Delilah untangled her arm from Ruth's and twisted to face her on the pew with her face screwed up into an expression of contempt, "The kind that is run by a patriarchy, the kind that holds men to be holier than women because of something Eve did millions of years ago."

"That is the way." Ruth admonished her smartly.

"That is nonsense." The blonde girl rebuffed forcefully. "It's been a while since I've read the Bible but I'm pretty sure _history_ has shown that no one gender is more sinful than the other."

"Shhh!" Ruth covered her mouth with her palm and looked almost fearfully up at the men a few rows in front of them. "Come with me."

She took Delilah's hand and together they slipped out of the church and around the corner to an abandoned Malt Shop, which was decrepit with age.

"You mustn't say such things around others, especially the men." Ruth told her in a voice just above a whisper.

"Then you know!" Delilah said almost triumphantly. "You know that this whole Idea of men being superior is idiotic."

"Of course it is, but it simply how it was written." Ruth rebuffed her and Delilah shook her head.

"What about those signs on the wall in there huh? No music, No dancing…"

"They are sins."

"They are art, they are part of what makes humans so amazing." Delilah looked around. "I'll bet you've never danced in your life."

"Certainly not!" Ruth shot up, scandalized.

"Why?"

"Because it's a…"

"A sin, I know. But _why? Why_ is it a sin?" Delilah demanded and Ruth faltered.

She had never really thought about why certain things were sins and why others were not.

"Here, give me your hand." Delilah held out her palm to the girl who hesitated but then grasped it with her own.

"Now just follow my lead." She instructed and pulled Ruth close, well as close as her swollen stomach would allow, and put Ruth's other hand on her shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to show you there is nothing sinful about dancing." Delilah said firmly, determined to expose this girl to some form of culture.

"But what if…"

"Look you want to teach me things right?" Delilah cut her off and Ruth nodded slowly. "Then let me teach you something to. Now just keep your hands on my shoulders. And I'll put my hands on your waist." She placed her hands firmly on Ruth's trim waist and nodded. "And just follow my lead."

With the lack of music the motion was stiff and awkward at first, with Ruth being extremely nervous.

But soon a sort of comfort grew between them, and Ruth craned her neck to rest her chin on Delilah's shoulder.

"It is just me?" Delilah began and looked down slightly at Ruth's baby bump. "Or do you feel like there's something between us?"

Ruth laughed and then gasped. "The baby kicked!" she squealed, feeling a new rush everything movement came. "Here, feel."

She snatched Delilah's hand and pressed it to the large mound. "Wait." She whispered and Delilah, suddenly very awkward held her breath waiting for a kick.

But none came and for some odd reason Delilah felt a stab of disappointment. "It won't move for me." She muttered and pulled her hand away.

"Well, sometimes it'll move if you talk to it." She urged and Delilah shifted down to her knees and awkwardly sat level with Ruth's belly.

"Okay uh…what-what should I say?"

"Anything."

"Oh uh, um…Hi there…baby." She felt rather foolish sitting there talking to a stranger's stomach but went on. "I uh…I guess you and I have a lot in common huh?" she joked, "we're both sorta new to this, we're both pretty confused, and we're both completely dependent on Ruth for the foreseeable future"

She laughed and paused when she felt a small thump under her palm. "Whoa." She swallowed as another kick came just beneath her fingers. "That's really….weird." she chuckled uncomfortably and stood up. "Have uh…have you picked a name for the kid?"

"I like the name Gabriel if it's a boy, or maybe Joshua. But if it's a girl we're going to name her Abigail." Ruth looked up at the stars dreamily. "I so wish for a girl."

"Why?"

"Malachai is 18 now, he will have to return to the corn next year. I don't want my son to grow up without a father."

Delilah squinted in confusion. "Return to the corn? What does that mean?"

"No one over the age of 19 is without sin, so on a person's nineteenth birthday they walk out into the corn and are taken by He Who Walks Behind The Rows"

"Wait, wait, wait…" Delilah opened her mouth and the closed it. "Are you telling me that when you turn nineteen, you walk out into the cornfield and that's it? That's all?"

Ruth paled, "Isaac says that they are walking with He Who Walks Behind The Rows, and that they will be devoured by him."

"So they just walked into the field and never come back. Is that what you're telling me?" Delilah pressed and Ruth looked at her in confusion.

"I guess you could say that."

"They are not killed before hand?"

"Oh no!" Ruth shook her head, "We must not let the flesh pollute the Corn."

Delilah sat in a stunned silence, staring straight ahead and all the while the wheels in her mind turned full speed.

Nothing was in the Corn that was impossible.

So that means that for years when they turned 19 generations of these kids walked out into the corn but didn't get killed.

And never came back here.

Meaning that there must be people out there who know about this place but have never said anything.

People have escaped from this nightmare before her.

And that means that she could to.

"Thank you, Ruth" Delilah began to laugh but smothered it and swallowed her relief. "Thank you…so much for telling me this."

She shocked Ruth by embracing her firmly.

"You're…you're welcome." She patted Delilah's back before returning the embrace.

"You know…" Delilah smiled a little. "I think things are about to turn around for me…"

Before she could finish she was cut off by a sound that curdles her blood.

A wail of anguish erupted from the cornfield, loud enough to be heard but muffled enough to be deep within the corn.

"Burt" Delilah paled and breathed heavily. "Burt!" She shot off once again, away from Ruth who ran after her.

"Delilah no!" She caught her before she could breach the border of the field. "Stop it!"

"It's Burt! He's still alive! He needs my Help!" Delilah thrashed against her grip, "Let me go Ruth! Let me go!"

"Delilah you can't…" Ruth stumbled back as Delilah broke free and shot into the Corn Just as Malachai and the other men were within sight.

"No!" Malachai bellowed, dropping his sickle and bolting in after her.

He brushed past cornstalks and struggled to keep up with her pace, following her heavy breathing and yells.

Eventually she stumbled over an exposed root and fell to the ground, giving him time to catch up with her and haul her up by her forearms.

"Let me go, Let me go! Burt! Burt I'm Coming!" she cried over her shoulder as Malachai growled and shook her.

"Stop it!" He bellowed and cut off her screaming. "Don't be a fool, He's gone."

"No! No, no, no, no! He's not! I can hear him, He needs me!" She begged desperately, hot tears spilling down her face. "Please He needs my help! He's still out there!"

Malachai looked around nervously, spying each and every stalk with fear.

"We have to get out of here."

"I have to find him"

"He's as good as dead, and we will be to if you don't come with me!"

"Burt!"

Tired and frustrated, Malachai decided he was done giving her a choice and ignored her screams of protests and abhorrent curses as He gripped her thighs and with a grunt lifted her over his shoulder and ran out of the corn as if the Devil himself was on his tail.

"Put me down! You don't understand!"

He didn't so much put her down as he did drop her to the ground as Ruth rushed to her side.

"Stop it." He growled as she continued to weep heavily. "Stop it."

Her tears would not end and he pulled her up roughly. "I said enough!" He barked and her whimpering ceased as she stared up at him in fear.

"Take her back to the house and _keep her there_ " he assigned Ruth who carefully wrapped an arm around Delilah's waist. " _Do not_ leave her alone"

"Come on." Ruth whispered as Delilah cast one more heartbroken look back into the corn and prayed for a sign.

that he was alive, he was okay.

But none came.

"He's going to make it." She whispered mostly to herself as Ruth pulled her away. "He made it through Vietnam, 63 patrols, he can make it through this I know he can…I know he can."

Ruth listened to her half mad mutterings and shook her head, "Come on."

They made it back to the village and to the hut where Delilah at first sat on the cot, then laid on her side with her back to Ruth, the remnants of hot angry tears that she would not let fall again sticking to her face.

Ruth had no words of comfort, no pearls of wisdom to lighten the situation.

She knew Delilah was left painfully bereft by the death of her brother.

The night was silent, which made the pained wail of terror that was cut off suddenly even louder as it echoed from the heart of the corn field.

Delilah curled into a tight ball and buried her face into her arms as she clutched at her hair, silently lamenting her brother's murder.

When the wail came Ruth watched her and reached out to touch her shoulder in comfort but Delilah jerked away, as if disgusted by the very gesture.

The blonde teen remained silent, dark, and brooding. Before she had been heart broken and afraid, and she still was, but there was something new now.

Now she was Angry.


End file.
